Exciton fine structure in single CdSe nanorods

We study the optical properties of excitons in one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures at low temperatures. In single CdSe/ZnS core-shell nanorods we observe a fine structure splitting and explain it by exchange interaction. Two peaks are observed with different degrees of linear polarization of DLP<0.85 and DLP>0.95. For small nanorod radii R< or =a(B)/2, an increase in the photoluminescence decay time is found when the temperature increases from 10 to 80 K. The observations are explained by a radius-dependent change in the symmetry of the 1D-exciton ground state which transforms from a dark state into bright states below a critical radius of R(crit) approximately 3.7 nm.